Nocturne of a Different Light
by CrystallineArtist
Summary: The Dark Lord's daughter comes to live with the Malfoy males and as Draco goes into his fifth year drama and suspense claim his life as he tries to navigate both his new house mate and his role in the plans of Voldemort.
1. Ch 01: First Meetings

**Just a few quick notes:**

To those of you who read For All the World to Fall and are freaking out because I'm writing a new story but not updating that one, chill I'll update. It's summer now so I'm going to get somewhere so that when school hits I have a plot line.

As far as this story goes! There are some artistic licenses at play. So if I don't stick to cannon don't call me on it unless you think I made a huge mistake!

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><p>Draco Malfoy stepped in front of the floor length mirror in the front hall of his home and checked his suit for the fifth time that hour. It was still midnight black with a deep blue tie and shiny golden cuff links. He shook out his sleeves to rid them of wrinkles and adjusted his tie so it hung perfectly straight even though it wasn't crooked originally. He focused on his reflection for a moment then sighed and walked back to his chair in the den, sitting next to his father with a slightly undignified plop.<p>

Lucius Malfoy turned to his child and stared him down. They'd been over his attitude every time the boy walked to the mirror and Lucius was getting tired of it. He was one step away from cursing Draco into falling in line. He rolled his cane in his hand for a second, letting the cool touch of the black lacquer calm him before letting out the breath that he had been holding and dropping the silver coated bottom on the floor with an audible 'clack'.

"Draco." He said, never letting his eyes stray from the fireplace.

Draco dropped his perfectly straight posture and leaned his elbow on the armrest, bringing his hand to lean against his cheek and shifting his weight to his right side. "Father I simply cannot understand why I need to be here for this. I mean sure this is the child of the Dark Lord and I can understand that it would benefit us for me to get to know them before we go to Hogwarts this year but I simply-."

Lucius cut him off sharply. "You say that you understand all of that and yet you continue to question me. I understand that you would rather be off with your friends but is it not enough that I've allowed you to invite them over later? Must you spend every second with them?"

Draco shook his head and heeded. He knew that his father's tone spoke volumes of what would be done to him if he didn't stop bugging him about it. He let a stream of air flow from his lungs and continued to watch the fireplace. _It's not exactly as if you get nothing from my friends coming over. They get to know this kid and you have the added protection of Crabbe and Goyle which you need if our talk earlier was anything to go by._

Seconds ticked by. Then minutes. Then half an hour had passed and still nothing. A house elf came to ask if they wanted anything and Draco took a water, anything to keep him busy. Lucius just continued to sit in his chair, eyes closed in meditation or thought; Draco couldn't tell.

With his usual air Lucius cut through the silence of the room like a knife. "Draco I know that right now you still live in your head. And those things have come crashing down on you because of all this drama as of late. But I do this because…If there ever came a time when I fell from the favor of the Dark Lord and your godfather could not protect you this alliance might keep you alive. You know the state of things with your mother and I no longer trust her with your well being. I want to offer you-."

He was cut off by the sudden burst of green flames that rose in the fireplace. Draco jumped to his feet to greet the newcomer, back straight and eyes alert only to relax a second later when it merely turned out to be Severus Snape. He dropped into his chair again as the Potions Master gave each of them a curt nod and sank into a chair by Lucius.

"Lucius. Draco. Have they arrived yet?"

Lucius uncharacteristically rolled his eyes at his best friend. "If they had do you think we would still be sitting here? That said luggage did arrive this morning but it's sealed tight. I admit that curiosity about the sex of his child got the better of me and I suggested the servants unpack them. Very powerful hexes nearly killed one of the miserable creatures."

Severus let a smirk slither across his features. "Of course you let curiosity overtake you. Any of us would. The situation with Narcissa is…?" Even as Lucius shot him a glare Severus didn't back down.

Draco let out a sigh and Lucius waved a ring decorated hand in the air. "That particular situation is unresolved and can remain that way seeing as she has fled to her home in France. I do not have nor will I take the time to chase her down. But mark my words should she step foot in any magical place in this country I'll know about it and she will be back in this house."

His tone left no room for argument and the subject was wisely dropped.

Severus shifted his attention to the younger Malfoy. "Draco are you ready for the school year? Year five. This could possibly top even last year's tournament."

Draco repeated his father's eye action but bite off his answer when flames once again roared to life in the fireplace. This time everyone in the room dropped to one knee as Voldemort himself stepped out of the fireplace. His eyes roamed over the room taking in every detail of the Malfoy den. Everything in it screamed of the years of dark arts that had been performed in this room.

"Lucius. Severus. Draco." He called each of their names in turn, his voice rough and hissy, and they rose from their kneeling position.

"My lord?" Lucius called out tentatively, ever ready to do the bidding of his master.

Voldemort glided towards one of the last two chairs in the room and slipped down next to Snape, crossing his legs and leaning back with grace and inhuman straight posture. "As you all know I've asked Lucius to take on the important task of watching out for my child this year. She's coming to live with him and will be going to Hogwarts with Draco and Severus this year."

Lucius blinked and slipped. "She my lord? You have a daughter." He tried to cover his interruption. "I mean I just would have assumed you would have a son because I…" He couldn't complete the sentence.

Voldemort let his eyes slip close for a second in a prolonged blink and then opened them again. He would forgive his subject for interrupting, it was natural to be a tad bit curious considering no one knew of her existence until just last week. And even now only the inner circle truly knew she was his.

"Yes Lucius I have a daughter. Now as I told your father and godfather last week Draco I want no one to know that she is my child. I will not have her being attacked or ostracized at school because she can be seen as my weakness or…a way of getting to me. If I find out that it has gotten out my revenge will be swift and painful is that understood?"

Draco nodded and Lucius cringed a bit at the words that came out of his mouth. "Of course my Lord I'll keep the secret and do my best to protect her." Draco needed to be a bit more careful with his promises.

"Excellent. Severus I expect the same from you. I'm tempted to make an unbreakable vow but at the same time I'm…I think it not necessary to ensure your compliance." The statement hung in the air and Snape quickly nodded.

"Of course my Lord."

"Now my plans for this year will be discussed at a meeting of the inner circle tomorrow. Lucius I'll want a report on how my daughter has settled in as well. It goes without saying that it should be done after everyone else has left."

Lucius nodded and the fireplace came to life again for the last time that day, few people were allowed to enter though this particular floo network stop, and each man rose to his feet as a female form stepped into the room.

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><p>I inhaled a shape breath that didn't go unnoticed by the room's other inhabitants as I laid eyes on Voldemort's daughter. But it could hardly be helped; the girl was stunning to say the least.<p>

She was a short girl, maybe five foot three inches without her shoes on and yet she seemed perfectly sized. She wore a black and red corset halter and a pure black pencil skirt that went slightly below the middle of her thigh under a lace shawl. Her thigh high platforms met the skirt and as her eyes landed on me I shivered just a bit, trying to squash the thought of ripping those straps off and viewing every inch of skin that her clothes seemed to hide.

_Need to kill any and all thoughts like that. Definitely not having any fun with her. All the same she's the perfect arm candy…still and presence._

Her eyes swept to her father and she went directly to him with less than a flicker of thought, taking a seat in the chair next to him and nodding to him in polite respect. I squashed the wish that she was closer to me because it would mean being closer to Voldemort and that was just something that IO couldn't handle. "Father."

"Gentlemen this is my daughter Illyria. Illyria my child this is Lucius, Severus, and Draco." The Dark Lord pointed to each of us in turn and I flashed a smile at the girl. I was supposed to get to know her so what could it hurt to flirt with her. She closed her eyes and leaned back against the chair, acting as if she hadn't seen me at all.

I frowned. _That's not normal. Girls typically don't…I wonder…is she maybe not straight?_

Her eyes opened again and as I inspected her closer I noticed that her pupils didn't seem to react to the light. Leaning ever so slightly closer to her I waited for it to happen again. She blinked and her lids stayed closed but when they opened her pupils didn't dilate to take in the dim lighting of the room. I blurted out the first thought that came to my mind in the silence. "Are you blind?"

My father inhaled even sharper than I had and I instantly tried to take it back, desperately afraid of his punishment or the Dark Lord's. "Forgive me that was rude. I didn't mean to-."

My voice cut into silence because Voldemort raised his hand. He opened his mouth to answer my question or rebuke me but his daughter cut him off. Her voice was like no other girl that normally flitted around me. Deep yet still feminine and barley above a whisper, I didn't have to strain to hear her and yet I knew that if any of us spoke we could easily drown her out.

"I'm technically blind yes. But I have another way of seeing. Beyond the normal heightened senses that come with the loss of vision."

I heard my father's cane tap the floor harshly and as her eyes flicked in his direction I understood immediately that under no circumstance was I to make the mistake of possibly offending her again. I stood and held out a hand to her, not sure how else to politely invite a blind girl to take a walk with me. This never came up in etiquette lessons.

"Illyria would you like to go to your room or perhaps tour the grounds? I know that my father and yours probably have business to discuss with Professor Snape."

She looked to her father and he nodded. _Now how could she possibly see that?_ She grabbed my hand after leaning over to kiss him on the cheek and I gave her a light tug to pull her to her feet, tucking her arm into the crook of mine."My lord, Father, Uncle Sev. Please excuse us."

They each nodded and I pulled her out of the room, setting a brisk pace. I was a foot taller than her and yet she kept up with my long strides perfectly despite her platforms which I estimated to be three inches.

As we went I pointed out the various parts of the mansion in vague detail, focusing more on the layout rather than the silly vases and paintings my mother had thrown up to decorate the place.

Discreetly I checked my watch every five minutes; I was on a bit of a time limit but didn't want to seem rude. It worked in my favor that she didn't talk much at all the entire time. I desperately wanted to ask her questions and yet I knew nothing of her and this wasn't a typical friendship. I didn't have the luxury of trial and error.

We reached the first landing of the main staircase and she pulled me to a stop, staring at me with eyes that were a midnight blue. She seemed to be appraising me, looking through to my very soul to see what words would be worth using. I shivered, I felt like something was pressing into my mind but the touch was so faint that I couldn't be anywhere near sure. With a tilt of her head that sent her black and silver hair cascading to one shoulder she closed her eyes and smiled.

"Draco I'm aware that my father has forced me upon you and yours. I…do not apologize for that but I will say that you do not have to be so uptight around me. Nor do you need to feel compelled to keep me company. Show me to my room and there your duty to me may end."

I gapped at her before remembering that Malfoy's do not make such expressions in public or private. This girl was so…strange. "I didn't mean to be so uptight. I'm just walking on egg shells." I walked us up the next staircase. "I can hardly deny that if I should upset you my Lord will more than likely kill me and or my father as a warning."

"I can't deny that either. But don't worry about it so much." I threw open the wood double doors to her apartments and quickly told her the layout, glancing at my watch. My friends would start arriving in roughly twenty minutes.

"You have the bedroom door which is directly ahead. The bathroom door is to the left and the walk in closet is to the right. Both rooms have adjoining doors that connect to the bedroom and the bedroom has a balcony that looks out on the back yard. Of course we're standing in the sitting room right now." We stepped back into the hall and I tilted my head in the directions I needed to indicate. "My father is to your left and my rooms are to your right. My mother's room is…Ah never mind that."

I pushed her by the small of her back into her rooms again, leading her to her closet this time. _Hopefully she won't catch that mother slip or ask where she is. I wonder if father will tell…no mustn't think on it._ "Your luggage is in the center of the room."

She went and kneeled by her bags before I could even finish speaking, raising an eyebrow as she waved a hand over them. _Where's her wand?_ "Did someone touch my bags?"

"Yes. My father was going to have the servants unpack them but there were some powerful-."

"Curses on them? Yes. In general I don't want people going through my things. Safety and all you know?"

I nodded. "Yes. Well when you open them simply call for a servant and they can put everything in drawers for you. I…my friends are coming over and I would like to go change out of this suit. Do you need anything?"

"I told you that your responsibility to me ended with showing me my room Draco." She was de-spelling her bags.

I walked forward and leaned down to whisper in her ear. "My lady you said that but I didn't agree."

A smirk slid across my lips and I stood back up turning sharply and heading for the door. _Draco Malfoy can adjust to anything, just you wait and see._ "If you need anything do not hesitate to call for me or a servant. I do think that you should come meet my friends seeing as you'll most likely be put into Slytherin and these are top tier Slytherins."

I exited her room and slid into mine that smirk never leaving my face. This was dangerous and yet also seemed a big potential for an injection of fun. With expert fingers I loosened my tie and thought of the beauty that now occupied the room next to me.

_She'll look lovely on my arm. Has a brain. Maybe this isn't the absolute worst thing that could happen to me._

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><p>Wish me luck with this. This was a spur of a moment write inspired by the fact that I finally finished reading the seventh book last month and was watching these harry potter specials on the bio channel. I'm posting this at midnight so I'll proofread again tomorrow. Right now I just want to get it up. I wanted this opening chapter to be longer so there is a small change that I'll add more to it tomorrow. For now I'm really kind of dead tired.<p> 


	2. Ch 02: Darkness Unfolding

I'm trying to change my writing style so over the course of the story things will hopefully shift. I know it opened a bit slow but that's how introductions go people! Things will definitely pick up by the time they go to Hogwarts but I don't wanna skip to that part. It's **maybe** six or seven chapters away. I don't know exactly. I want there to be a real feel for this group before they go to school. Just had to share that.

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><p>I wrinkled my nose and stood the second the Malfoy boy was out of the room, trying hard not to send a curse flying after him. <em>Boys. All the same, over sexed and on a war path. This is not going to be so fun.<em>

Crossing my hands in front of me on my chest I finished de-spelling my bags and shuffled everything out of them and into places around the closet. An outfit for every occasion I could possibly think of went onto hangers and up on racks, sleep clothes packed themselves into dressers, and underwear slipped itself into drawers. I gave the room a look to make sure that it was neat and then snapped my fingers, hopping that summoning spells for house elves were universal.

A pop behind me alerted me that they were. "Hello Little Miss I am being Lizzy. What is Miss requiring?"

I didn't bother to even turn around and acknowledge the thing. "Find somewhere to put my luggage and make sure it's neatly put out of sight and that nothing will happen to the luggage wherever you put it. Before you do that though tell Draco to come get me when his friend's arrive, I'm going to take a brief nap."

I wiggled my finger's over my shoulder and with a quick ' Yes Miss' Lizzy was gone. I walked through the double doors that lead to the bed room and fell on the bed with less than a second thought, barley considering taking off my platforms. As my stocking covered feet rolled over the surface of the comforter I couldn't help but frown as thoughts rolled over me.

Rubbing my temples and phasing my sight to the back of my active powers I thought about everything I knew about my new home. _Father finally has a corporal form again and the first thing he does is ship me off to live with his servants. It's for my own good he says._ _The Malfoy family is an excellent choice he says. Ha! High in my father's estimation sure but we'll see where they fall in mine. Lucius, Draco, and _Narcissa_ who is rapidly falling from my father's favorite list because of her latest indiscretion. I wonder what Draco knows about the situation with his mom and how much he'll tell me._

I stretched out, curling my toes and letting out a moan as muscles that felt so compressed by all my traveling earlier in the day finally relaxed. I regretted my moan two seconds later because the doors to my room burst open less than a second into it. I dropped my arched form back flat on the bed and rolled onto my side, curling into a half ball facing in the direction that the door bang had come from.

"Did we interrupt something?" I could hear the smirk in that evil blonde's voice and once again called upon all my self control to keep from hexing him.

"Who is we? And why do you not believe in knocking?" I asked instead, casting a quick tempus spell only to realize that twenty minutes had passed and it was now exactly one o' clock in the afternoon.

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><p>A small groan escaped my mouth as I slipped from my suit into a much much more comfortable casual outfit. It was good to be in something that didn't have permanent creases starched into it. With five minutes until people were supposed to start arriving I sat on the bed and wiggled my toes.<p>

The house-elf Lizzy popped into my room before I could truly have time to procrastinate and I glared down on her. She hadn't done anything wrong but of course there was no fun in that. "What is it? Make it fast." I snapped, standing and walking to the bathroom, glancing in the mirror to cheek my hair.

The horrible little creature wrung its hands and looked seconds from breaking down as she delivered her message. "Mas-s-ster D-raco sir the L-l-little Miss-s-s next door has requested that you come g-get her when your friends arrive."

"Excellent. Did she give you other orders?"

"Yes sir."

"Then go carry them out. Tell the kitchen elves to set the table for five when you're done. It should be me, Illyria, Blasie, Goyle, and Crabbe. Pansy wasn't invited but she may show, set a place for her…She knows what time we normally serve lunch. If she doesn't show up on time it's her own fault. Also tell two of the human butlers to be ready to serve for lunch. Leave now."

She popped out and I finished smoothing my hair to perfection before flashing myself a smile and leaving my apartments.

Striding out of my room and down the hall I took the stairs two at a time heading for the first floor arrival chamber. Despite being dear friends the only person in my group of friends who could apparate directly into the house was Blaise Zabini. As soon as my shoes touched down on the black marble floor of the front hall he appeared next to me, already shaking off his traveling cloak. I smirked and kept walking towards the chamber as he threw his cloak to a nearby maid. _How long till your curiosity over runs you Blaise?_

_Three_…I opened the door to the antechamber…

_Two_…pulled out my wand and flung a spell at the wards to let through the magical signatures of Crabbe and Goyle and Pansy...

_One_….turned around and came face to face with Blaise.

He stared at me for a moment, seeming to have a small war with himself for a moment before realizing that it didn't matter in light of his curiosity. My lips curled up; even with my best friend it still felt good to be the one holding all the cards. "Well?"

With an arched eyebrow I turned him around by the shoulders and pointed him towards the stairs, heading back up. "Well what?"

"You know very well what I'm asking about Malfoy." A bit of a growl slipped into his voice and my lips turned up that much more. We were gliding up the seconds set of stairs now.

"I'm afraid I don't Blaise. You could be asking about school, about my family, about events. You have to be direct." I was giving him a full toothy smile now and with an eye roll he played my game.

"Fine Draco. Has it arrived yet? The Dark Lord's child?"He made to turn into my apartments but I grabbed his upper arm and steered him further down the hall to the doors closer to my father's room.

"In here." I knocked on the door twice and then proceeded in. Blaise looked like a kid about to receive a present before sculpting his face into its standard half interested look. I shook my head as I knocked on the bed room door it's self, reading my best friend like a book. His hands in his pocket to keep him from fidgeting, right leg half bent to keep balance, and shoulders hunched ever so slightly forward to give the appearance of being relaxed.

Shaking my head I knocked once again, I knew she was in there because I could hear something sliding around. With next to no thought I opened the door and walked in, freezing at the sight that awaited me. Hands that gripped the wrought iron curls lead down to arms stretched and woven tightly together, her back arched and her legs woven together like her arms slipped down to pointed toes.

The sound of a moan brought me out of my own world and back into this one. I quickly glanced at Blasie to make sure that it hadn't been him before smiling and taking a step forward, sad to see that she had curled into a ball, made a comment.

"Did we interrupt something?" Her eyes flickered open and scrunched up a bit, glaring at me or I suppose in my general direction.

"Who is we? And why do you not believe in knocking?" My eyebrow twitched and I brought one hand up to rest on my hip.

"I did knock. Four times. Twice on the outer door and twice on the inner. You didn't answer either time."

"I didn't hear," She half whispered to herself. "You shouldn't have barged in; I could have been doing anything."

"Well based on that moan you were doing something." She curled tighter and I winced, slightly regretting my choice to antagonize her. _Must remember, making friends. Actual friends like with Blasie instead of "friends" like with Crabbe and Goyle._

"I was just stretching. I've been flooing and apparating all day."

"Right um well…" I couldn't bring myself to actually apologize so I gestured to Blasie. "The we is my best friend Blaise Zabini." Her form slowly uncurled and sat up on the side of the bed; Blaise took two quick strides forward and shook the hand that she offered.

"Nice to meet you. May I have your name?" He bowed low over her hand and gave it a kiss. I rolled my eyes, the feeling of having done wrong fading in light of Blaise's training. _Your mom really did a bloody good job on you friend._ I cringed when I thought of Blaise's mom, nothing in that woman was maternal. It was all cold, calculating, carful plotting with her. _She probably considers him to be her masterpiece._

The hand was pulled back the second he let it go and she quickly gave him her name. Blaise made some off handed comment about its originality and how he'd never heard of it before. I let my eyes slip towards the ceiling; he was laying it on thick.

"Enough flirting you've spent less than five minutes in her company and we have a good three weeks before school for you to do this routine." I waved my hand in a fluttery manner and walked to the bed, grabbing Illyria's arm and hoisting her to her feet. "You asked Lizzy to tell me to come get you when my friend's arrived. Well that's what I'm doing. We're still waiting on two others for sure but I thought it would be better for you to get to know Blaise first. I'm sorry he's such a dog."

I tucked one arm into the crook of mine and Blaise took the other, setting us off in the direction of the dining room.

"Draco forgive me for having manners around a lady. You know I was taught to be a gentleman. I could stand to give you some lessons." Blaise shot me a look over her head as we descended the master staircase. I furrowed an eyebrow totally unclear about what he was silently trying to ask. All I could tell for sure was that he wasn't upset at my jesting.

His eyes flicked from side to side and I nodded, understanding and trying to convey that something was wrong with them. She hadn't started up at him while they had been talking in her bedroom, rather she'd stared into the middle space that was at her natural eye level. He nodded, getting my point.

As we swept past the ground floor first arrival room Crabbe and Goyle slipped out into the hall to join us. I tilted my head to them and pulled Illyria along when Blaise slowed down. "We'll do further introductions at the table. Lunch should be set soon."

Crabbe and Goyle gawcked at Illyria and I was happy she couldn't see. If it weren't for their physical appearance I doubt any girls would go for them, it certainly couldn't be behavior like this that kept them hanging around.

We arrived at the table and I sat at the head, pushing Illyria into a chair on the side closest to me. Blaise set next to her and Crabbe and Goyle across from them. I signaled one of the butlers and he scurried from the room.

"Illyria this is Crabbe and Goyle. Crabbe and Goyle this is my house guest Illyria." They each gave her a quick nod but didn't say anything. I wanted to laugh at the fact that they were actually being shy. Shooting Blaise a look I mouthed at him, _Can you believe this?_ He covered his chuckles with a cough that didn't last long as his eyes strayed to the sixth place setting.

"Draco is Pansy coming today?" He asked with a little tension laced through his tone. Pansy and Blaise hadn't been getting along well since she had snapped on him a couple weeks ago. She had ended their fight by calling him a tease and a monster all in the same breath and Blaise was nowhere near forgiving her. I wondered if they'd ever be able to make that work again. It wasn't like they had a relationship beyond friendship. Or at least in the mind of anyone except Pansy they hadn't had a real relationship.

Snapping back from my thoughts I answered his question, I was letting myself get side tracked by way to many tangents as of late. "I didn't invite her, I didn't even tell her that there was anything special about today but you know how she has a way of just showing up at times."

"Right."

"Who's Pansy?" Illyria's voice rang out in the same quiet whisper that she had used in the Den earlier and each of us gave a shiver. There was something powerful in that voice that you would have to be insane not to feel, to sense, to fear. She was quickly going to establish that she wasn't a threat to be taken lightly.

"Another of our friends." Came the voice of Crabbe.

"She's fallen out with us though." Goyle filled in.

My eye twitched and I shot them both a look that had them claming up quickly. One minute they were quiet as mice the next they were to informative.

"What they said. We've known her since first year but as we've grown older that friendship has drifted a little." My tone left no room for discussion and I was happy that the house elves decided to send the food out at that moment.

Similar to the way that it did at Hogwarts the food appeared in a swirl of golden sparkles and we each tucked in, making plates and tapping our glasses to fill them with our favorite drinks. The conversation was lighter as we ate and I was thankful for that.

"What year will you be going into at Hogwarts?" This was something that had been bugging me all day. I could tell that she was a teenager but I had no idea of her age.

"Well I'm thirteen but I would be going into year three. Only all of the private lessons I have had have put me ahead of where I should be so I've been bumped up to your level. Year five. I'm still ahead of even some of the stuff that we'll be learning this year but not all of it and it was decided that a two year bump was enough."

"Brains to go along with your beauty. Excellent. Are you looking forward to it?"

She stopped even pretending to eat at this point, merely pushing her salad around the plate the way I'd been watching her do on a much more subtle level throughout the meal. "Honestly? No."

I frowned and asked the next question. "Why?"

Her fork went down to lie on the plate and she brought her knees up to her chin, wrapping an arm around them tightly. "I'm not hearing such awesome things about that school. You have a house system and apparently take it very seriously. Plus living in dorms? And over all going to the home of the Dark Lord's enemies doesn't seem all that exciting."

My nose wrinkled._ I didn't expect him to be the most affectionate father but forcing your own child to call you by the name your followers give you? OF course…_My eyes shifted to Crabbe and Goyle…._Maybe it's just because they don't know the whole truth._

"Well the houses work to our advantage. I mean think about how easy it makes it for us to figure out who's pureblood and worthy of our time. Any Slytherin of course. Granted a few half-bloods slip in from time to time but they have their uses." I replied quickly.

"And our dorms are the absolute best. Instead of four or five to a room like in Gryffindor it's two. If there's an odd number of girls you probably won't have a hard time convincing the head of house to let you be alone in your room. You meet him earlier right? Professor Snape?"

"Yes she did. He was here with father to receive her."

Blaise nodded rapidly, setting aside his main plate for a smaller dessert one. "Well he looks a lot meaner than he is. I mean that is to Slytherins. Most other houses have to deal with his wrath. Especially those goody goodys in Gryffindor."

She looked like she was going to say something but I cut her off. "And as far as going into the home of the Dark Lord's enemies. Well Dumbledore would never hurt a child if he didn't have to. At least he's never taken direct action against any of us even though Potter runs around screaming that our parents are Death Eaters. I question if he doesn't intentionally set Potter on us but I'm often told I'm paranoid. He may look the other way at times but his sense of justice prevents him from outright hating us." I tried not to spit out the wine I had chosen to go with my meal after having to say the Golden Boy's name. My hate for him was unrestricted. "Now I will say that Potter is a bit of danger but consider this. You have us. We'll watch your back and you'll watch ours because it's the Slytherin way."

She sighed taking small final bites of her salad. "That's just it. What if I don't get into your house? Isn't it all up to some hat?" Her hand reached for a dessert and Crabbe passed her a cheesecake. I frowned because she hadn't really eaten her lunch but quickly knocked that thought from my head, I wasn't meant to be mothering her.

Blaise let out a laugh. "You? Not get into Slytherin? That's unheard of. Maybe you'll get into Raveclaw because of your smarts but we will admit to having respect for them. But getting into Gryffindor or Hufflepuff? That just won't happen."

Her eyes cut towards him in a predatory way and I could see the wall building back up. She had been vulnerable, something that she knew she couldn't afford to be in any other setting and here he was laughing at her. I frowned again. She was unlike most other girls; others would have laughed with him and dismissed their fears the same way he did.

Setting my elbows on the table and pointing my fingers in a steeple I set out to correct his mistake. "When I was sorted the hat barley touched my head before shouting out Slytherin. It was clear from the start that I had the traits Slytherin praised: cunning, pureblood, strength, a conniving streak, and of course selfishness. It was much the same with Crabbe and Goyle. Now when the hat got to Blaise things were different. Should you tell her or will I?"

He rolled his wrist setting his glass on the table and half turning to face her. "When the hat set out to sort me it took a bit longer. You see it didn't know where to put me other than not in Hufflepuff. I had the courage and bravery of those wretched Gryffindors, the wit and burning desire to learn of Ravenclaw, and of course the traits of Slytherin that Draco just listed off. So after about ten minutes of picking through my brain the Hat asked me. 'Which house would you choose to be in?'

"I smiled and quickly answered Slytherin. The hat frowned and asked 'Knowing that what if I should shout out Ravenclaw or Gryffindor?' I smiled again and told the Hat that while Ravenclaw had its merits my place was in Slytherin with the rest of the snakes and that if it put me in Gryffindor I wouldn't hesitate to burn it alive in a slow torture. Stopping the flames each time they would just consume him and repairing him so that he would feel my true wrath." He stopped to smirk and sip from his glass. "The Hat quickly declared me a Slytherin after that. So you see you do have a choice. Now let me ask you. Do you think you don't want to be in Slytherin?"

She blinked at him for a moment, just taking in the change that had come over him. Whenever Blaise told that story it was hard to remember him as the polite boy that had been raised to balance chivalry and equality.

"It's not that I don't want to be there. It's merely that I wasn't sure I would get in. But if all it takes to convince the Hat is dark thoughts and a few threats well…I have that covered." We all girnned, sharing in the dark aura that seemed to swirl around the room now. Our desserts were soon finished and the dishes were whisked away. We sat, drinking and making conversation about darker subjects that wouldn't constitute small talk in polite society. Most of it revolved around Hogwarts but it was still an interesting discussion.

Before long our peace was interrupted by my father striding in. He'd changed out of his robes and was wearing only his suit pants and buttoned up shirt. The jacket was probably in his office thrown over the chair. Taking in the sight of us he came to stand behind my chair. "I hope Draco is acting as a good host for all of you."

They each nodded their ascent and I felt him relax a little. He was really checking to make sure that Illyria was settling in ok. The boys and I had been friends for much too long for him to worry considerably if I was rude or nasty to them. I was slightly shocked when he outright posed that thought to her. It seemed tactless.

"And you Illyria. Are you settling in well?" His hooded eyes swept to stare down at her and she dropped her knees to rest at their proper place so that her feet touched the ground, sitting up straight and looking back at him.

"Just fine thank you. I unpacked and the house elf put my luggage away. Lunch has been lovely and all of these boys have been perfect Gentlemen Mr. Malfoy."

"Excellent. I think I shall tell you that Pansy has arrived then. She's sitting in the main living room off the den waiting for all of you."

It clicked then. _Father was testing the air to see if it was safe to unleash Pansy on this girl. _My dad knew of our rift in friendship with her of course the same way he knew most of my life. Some things I had told him and blanks had been filled in by his spies. _I wish he would just send her away and yet now it's too late._

"Blaise, Crabbe, Goyle why don't you and Illyria go ahead of me. I would just like a quick word with my father." Blaise looked at me with fire burning in his eyes. The conversation had put him in one of his more sadistic moods and he didn't feel like sugar coating his responses so as to keep a peace between himself and Pansy. He wanted things to stay the way they were now, us in here and her out there.

A tilt of my head had him standing and grabbing Illyria's hand to lead them all out of the room. My father took Illyria's seat the second the door shut behind them and I rubbed my eyes for a second dropping my mask completely.

"What did the Dark-." He cut me off sharply.

"We can talk about that later. You my boy need to be less flirty and more sincere. She can sense the fake you and it's not going to earn you any points."

"I know it's just hard. You know I rarely see the point in making friends with how much you can actually trust people now a days it's just impossible. Things have been getting a bit smoother since Blaise arrived though, you know his charm. She's opening up a bit."

"Yes yes very good. Try harder at not trying so hard. That is. Try harder to show her the true you my boy. Was there something else you wanted to discuss."

"Yes. You know the situation with Pansy. While we were in here Illyria was fine and we had a lovely conversation about school and what it would be like but I'm afraid the tension that is sparked between Blaise and Pansy will cause her to clam up. In short I want Pansy here for no more than an hour even if she is being nice. If she turns bratty I'll have her removed no matter what."

He nodded. "I'll send a message to her mother telling her to call the girl home on some errand or something. She'll listen for the sake of keeping in my good graces. Anything else?"

I wanted to ask him about mother, about a dozen things that swirled in my head threatening to give me a migraine but I stood and shook my head. "Nothing that can't wait for our usual night meeting. I think you have some things to express to me also."

Before he could answer I strolled out the door and off to the living room that contained my friend's, ready to do damage control.

* * *

><p>So yay chapter 2! I was having such a hard time writing this and then I hit the dining room scene and things just clicked. Again, posting this at two in the morning so if it has errors I'll fix them when I reread tomorrow. Umm anything else….nothing I can think of…I hope you enjoyed! And bear with me things will speed up. I'm still finding the right balance between how much talking should be done in down moments like dinner.<p>

P.s. Why they're capable of apparition a year early will be explained shortly. Artistic license!


	3. Ch 03: Explaining Tension

Let the explanations being.

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><p>The second I stepped into the main living room I wished I hadn't told my father to send Pansy away in an hour. It was much too much time for her to be around. The air of the living room was tense and you could practically inhale the hatred. Pansy had a smile on her lip-gloss coated lips that screamed 'I'm ready to eat someone alive' and Blasie's displeased expression was daring her to say something beyond the polite conversation they were having.<p>

"-she's Draco's house guest for the time till we go to Hogwarts." Goyle was saying to Pansy who was eyeing Illyria as if sizing her up to see how her replacement matched up.

There was a silence after that statement and I found myself matching them up. Illyria was put together. Her outfit was stylish and flirty yet not slutty. Her hair was in perfect order each strand brushed to glide along with the others and frame her face. Her makeup was only the lightest coating and from the way her hand was pressed against her cheek she wasn't afraid to smear it. Even the way she sat was ideal, she had curled up in the chair which was something that she shouldn't do in the presence of company and yet she made it look as elegant as a woman sitting both feet on the floor or legs crossed at the ankle.

Pansy on the other hand was…just different. It wasn't that she looked bad in compassion…well it was that. But she looked better than other girls that flitted around. My eyes kept straying back to here lip-gloss which was to heavy and her eye shadow didn't look like it had been given the slightest chance to fade before a new layer was added. Her outfit was ok but perhaps a little too tight. And despite the fact that she had her legs crossed at the knee with hands in her lap and a straight spine pose she just didn't look as elegant.

"Draco." Pansy called to me in greeting and my mind was snapped back to the situation like a rubber band. I strolled over to take a chair next to Blaise and gracefully slid down into it. "Pansy."

My simple reply of her name was too cold for her and she tried again, turning ever so slightly so that she was facing Illyria. "Well it's nice to meet you. Your hair is so interesting. Did you do the grey yourself or is it natural?"

Illyria's eyes snapped open, something was off about her. In the entire time she'd been around us today she hadn't responded with an eye expression like that once. "It's natural."

Pansy nodded and the awkward silence was slipped back in. She didn't know the girl couldn't see the gesture. "So when you were born your hair was just black and grey?"

"No. I've just seen a lot of…less than pleasant things in my life. After awhile my hair just…decided to reflect that fact. Please excuse me." She stood and quickly made her way from the room, not even waiting for the rest of us to acknowledge her exit.

Our eyes tracked her till she was beyond the ceiling arch and then we were all focused on Pansy who was fidgeting like crazy now that she was alone with us. I dropped the axe and put her out of her misery.

"Pansy why are you here?"

"I…I'm sick of being alone. I miss you guys. Can't we just make things better? Fix things so that we're back to normal? I mean I need you. And you need me." She gave us a half smile.

Goyle and Crabbe looked ready to give into her but Blaise crossed his legs and held firm. I sighed, I was only a mediator. I didn't want or need the drama. "That's not really up to us." My head tilted in Blaise's direction. "It's up to him."

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><p>The second I was twenty feet away from the room it felt as if I could breathe again. I couldn't sense the tension, the anger, the resentment of the room any longer and that was absolutely glorious. There was something wrong within that group and I didn't need to know about it but they definitely needed to work it out before I was around all of them. <em>I hope that's what they're doing now.<em>

Slumping against the wall and sliding down to the floor I closed my eyes and brought my knees to my chest, wrapping my arm around them and putting my head on them. _Why in god's name do I have to be an empath? As if I don't have enough on my palte with the whole seeing thing I have to be able to feel everything also._ I took another breathe and centered myself. It did no good to whine aloud so it was pointless to do it in my head. I just needed to calm down.

"Ms. DiHallow?" It was the deep voice of Lucius Malfoy that drew me from my thoughts. I'd always gone by DiHallow seeing as I couldn't go around claiming myself as a Riddle and that name wasn't going to change any time soon.

"Yes Mister Malfoy?" I cleared my throat because the sound that had come from it was pinched and high, the sound of restraint or apprehension. The sound of fear.

"Please call me Lucius. Are you ok?" I could hear the swishing of his clothes and knew that he'd squatted down beside me, his feet mere inches from my own. I wasn't feeling anything from him and yet he couldn't not be feeling something. _My barriers must be on the fritz. Selectively letting emotions threw._

"If I'm to call you Lucius you should call me Ria or Illyria. And I'm fine thank you, just a little overwhelmed by the ummm…well there's something…I don't know if Draco has told…" I couldn't find a good way to phrase this because I didn't know what Lucius knew. I didn't want to go ratting out Draco's secrets if he hadn't told his father that he was on the outs with a friend.

"You couldn't take the stress of the room because they hate Pansy and Pansy is a pathetic whimpering mess who wants them back?" I inhaled sharply which was considerably hard for my curled up form considering how much my lungs were compressed. That was a harsh analysis of the situation and yet completely accurate. I'd spent less than three minutes in a room with the girl and would already peg her as weak.

"Ah yes pretty much."

"Your father had mentioned that you're an empath. Don't-"

I hissed and uncurled, eyes flying open to glare at Lucius. Had he not been my current guardian I would have snaked a hand forward to clench his throat and choke him. "He. Told. You. What?"

He continued as if I hadn't just interrupted him with rage burning in my eyes. "-worry she'll be gone within the hour. And yes your father told me you were an empathy among other things. I can see that that's a bit of a problem?"

I wanted to shoot to my feet but my knees didn't feel as if they could support themselves let alone my whole frame. "Of course it's a problem. It's not his secret to tell. It's my personal business."

"He only told me so that I can better adapt to protecting you. From what I understand you aren't a typical child and there are things that need to be minded." His voice was still calm. That was amazingly annoying. I dropped my barriers and went poking around at his feelings. There was nothing hidden, he was feeling just as calm as he was projecting. Maybe a little stressed but it wasn't projected at me.

"It still wasn't his secret to tell." That was all I could say.

Lucius reached out a hand and stroked my shoulder, carful to keep his skin from touching anything below the shawl. Dad had told him everything.

"This is going to be hard to believe because your father is who your father is but he told me so that I can better protect you because he cares. He doesn't claim you because he cares. He doesn't want you to have any trouble at school so he's sending you with Draco because he cares. I'm a dad. I won't pretend to know everything about your father because he is complex but on this I'm right."

I looked away. I didn't want to talk about this at all. Lucius got the point and in a surprise move picked me up bridal style and turned, walking in some unknown direction. I clutched at him, my nails biting into his shoulder as I gave a little squeak.

"I already told Pansy's mom to call her home in an hour because Draco requested that of me so I will give them this hour to work things out. You can come sit in my office with me for the time being. It's always calm in there."

As he walked I started to understand why my father had such…respect for this man. Lucius could be a good guy but I knew that this was him in front of me and maybe even Draco. To the outside world he was an entirely different man.

* * *

><p>Blaise's laugh cut through the air. "You want forgiveness? Ask for it."<p>

With that one phrase I knew that nothing was going to be fixed. Pansy didn't think that she was in the wrong but Blaise wanted an apology. It was a standard situation except we weren't siding with Blaise because he was our friend or because it was a guy thing. We were siding with him because he was simply right. Pansy had gotten to comfortable around us these last couple months. And not in a good way. She was getting high handed and over stepping her bounds. This entire fight was much more than Pansy having blown up in Blaise's face. It was a smack down. A humbling experience. It was us putting her back in her proper place, not at our side but at our feet.

Her voice was high and shrill but lacking the hysteria for the time being. "I didn't say that I wanted forgiveness Blaise." His name was spit out with a bit of a sneer. "I said I wanted to fix things. For us to be like we were before."

"Before what Pansy? Before you made up a relationship between us that wasn't real and spread that rumor around? Or after that but before the fight where you called me and my mother a number of very disrespectful names and implied some things that you have no idea about? And how exactly do you expect to get by without an apology? Do you wish us to just wipe this incident from our minds? To forget that you're willing to slight our characters if it makes you look better? I mean if you did this to me what's to stop you from doing this to Draco or Goyle or Crabbe? Please explain." He flipped his wrist so that his hand was palm up, fingers pointed towards her in an inviting gesture. He was giving her the floor in this trial. It was her turn to speak.

She was shaken and stuttered for a minute. She sat there opening her mouth and closing it. The same motion was repeated over and over again for at least a minute as she processed the questions he had thrown at her. The doorway for her apologizing was closing rapidly but she didn't understand that. She needed to shut up and say sorry now because I saw the wheels turning in Blaise's head. After her next attempt at explain she would be out of his good graces permanently. _Forty five minutes to go. I wonder if this will go on that long._

"Before…I mean before all of this giant mess that has landed us here. Right now…I-." She wrung her hands out and silenced herself looking down.

"Pansy save yourself some trouble and just leave. You can't answer my questions because without an apology, which you've made it clear that you aren't going to give, you can only make excuses." His strike was quick and snakelike.

"But I…I came today because…We…"She broke down in tears and I looked away. It was a weakness but I didn't know how to handle a crying enemy. And that was what she had become, our enemy. She wasn't opposing us but she'd struck a blow against one of us and like any alliance a blow against one is a blow against all.

I intervened. "Pansy for the better leave. Don't visit us. Don't talk to us. Just give us and yourself time to think. We can talk about this again at Hogwarts. Its three weeks. You'll live."

"But what about the ball before school starts?" Blaise snapped and stood up, crossing the room with quick steps and grabbing her face with one hand.

"We're nothing more than name's and reputations to you aren't we? Why don't you just admit that you're selfish and trying to advance your own position in life because your family is nothing but kiss asses that've passed on that trait to you only it's a thousand times worse in you because you just don't know when to stop. You simply aren't smart enough to manipulate people."

I was on my feet right behind him and quickly grabbed hold of his arm in a bruising grip of my own. We stared at each other for a brief amount of time before he dropped Pansy's face and walked back to his chair. I pulled Pansy back to her feet and out of the room, snapping my fingers to a guard that was passing by at the perfect moment.

"You, escort her to the antechamber for travel and make sure she leaves the grounds immediately." I gave her a small shove in his direction and his hand clasped her upper arm much the way I had, pulling her towards their destination. I let my eyes sweep the hall looking for Illyria, she wasn't around. A frown crossed my face but I walked back in the room, this was for the better.

"This is hardly the time to be cracking Blaise."

"Who's cracking Draco? I'm merely putting things into as straight line that makes sense. You can't say that she hasn't always been after our reputations for her whole friendship."

"Never said I could. But calling her on it now? Now is not the time to be making new enemies. Not with Illyria just-." I was heading into a tail spin rant but stopped myself just in time. This was not the conversation to have in front of Goyle and Crabbe, they didn't know anything and this would make them ask questions. These were questions that could lead to them to spilling their knowledge to anyone who asked, like earlier when Goyle had introduced Illyria to Pansy. _No. No. won't have that happening._

"Pansy would never be a serious enemy and you know it. Her mother is much, much too far in your father's…pocket for her to ever consider letting her daughter displease dear Draco Malfoy. Chill out."

"I will not chill out because Pansy is neither rational nor smart. You said it yourself, she doesn't know when to stop. She'll take some action against us before even telling her mother about it and who knows what that action will be." I dropped into a chair my head was pounding with the stress from today. As much of a light attitude as I had tried to maintain this day seemed determined to fall apart and I was just not going to keep trying to hold it together. Rubbing my temples with fingers that were digging into my skull I tried to block everything out.

They let me have my moment and then Blaise stood and made his way across the room, dropping a hand to my neck and rubbing at the vertebrae of my spine in a soothing gesture. "We will handle it. Now calm down and don't make yourself sick."

We spent the rest of the hour that should have been Pansy's time with us in silence, the guys were thinking but I was simply waiting for my headache to pass. When the hour tolled out in the house as four in the afternoon the talking resumed again. I was wondering why Illyria had yet to return when Crabbe strong armed his way into my head.

"Draco what's so special about the girl? This ah Illyria that we had lunch with."

I was ready for this, I had an answer already planned out that didn't need a whole lot of lying because it wisely avoided details. "She's just a friend of my dad's business partner. She needs to be protected because her father has a lot of enemies."

He accepted my answer the way that I knew he would and in that moment I felt bad for thinking them so stupid. They were smart at times just not in the traditional sense. And yet it was that difference in smarts that made them stupid to me. I shook my head and with it tossed out the sentimentality.

"I wonder where she slipped away to. She's been gone awhile." Blaise snapped his fingers and a house elf appeared, bowing low so that it's ears touched the ground.

"Have you seen the Lady Illyria?"

It nodded rapidly. "Yes sir she is being with Master Lucius sir."

Blaise looked to me and I looked at the house elf. "She's in my father's office. Doing what?

"I couldn't tell you young Master. Master Lucius sir found her in the hall and picked her up and took her there. That is all I know sir." It was starting to tremble now, we'd often punished our house elves for their lack of information and I was more than tempted to do so now.

"Has she been there this whole time?"

"Yes sir."

"Disappear. Now." It was out of the room before I could pronounce the w on now and I shifted my position. It was a weird set of thoughts that floated through my head. On the one hand she was supposed to be getting to know Blaise, Goyle, and Crabbe. On the other hand if I just waltzed into my father's office and took her out that probably wouldn't be a good idea.

I was on my feet and knocking on the door to his office before I could actually register what I was doing. The knocks sounded through the wood and a whispered come in was the answer it received. The first thing I saw was my father with his finger to his lips, hand half suspended in the air with a pen ready to sign some document. A second glance showed me Illyria, dead asleep under a blanket on one of the side couches. I pointed to her and he waved me closer.

"Yes?" He quickly scrawled his signature across a page and put the pen back in it's place, leaning back in his chair to watch me.

"Um what should I…Pansy's gone and the guys are spending the night but she's knocked out so…"

"She's been asleep in here since shortly after I found her in the hall. You were very right about the Pansy situation. Just leave her here. Go have fun or something."

I walked quickly from the room not giving him time to change his mind and order me to do something else. This whole thing with Pansy had put everyone in a foul mood and now that we didn't have to babysit Illyria or settle any arguments we could afford to let loose.

* * *

><p>The rest of the day flew by in a flurry quiditch matches played in the backyard and wine drunk while debating anything and everything. As we stumbled up the stairs at midnight in our drunken haze I gave each of the boys a pat on the shoulder. I wanted to say something but thought better of it. Things that were mushy were always best conveyed by silence between us.<p>

Blaise slipped into my room and Crabbe and Goyle took the guest rooms across from me. I proceeded forward to my father's room. I was half smashed but still quite sober enough to have our nightly conversation. I strolled into his room without knocking, dropping myself into a chair and putting my head in my hands.

"I've done everything you asked today. So tell me what is going on with Mother. Why did she flee the house last weekend?" I wanted to strike the first blow, get to him before he could get to me.

He sighed and put his glass of Brandy down. "You probably won't remember this considering your current state and all so I might as well tell you."

"Oh I'll remember this. Trust me."

His eyes appraised me for a moment. "You know that when I married your mother it was not a love match. It wasn't even because I thought she would make a good mother. And her family was only just high enough to make my father's standards. No we married because I could stand her and she was what my father wanted. Nothing more, nothing less. Well to say the least you mother has been cheating for quite some time. I was made aware of her latest affair and it was becoming…to much. I couldn't allow it to continue."

"You're lying." I shook my head and leaned forward, the world was spinning and it felt like I was going to throw up. "You've long known that mother was an adulterous slut and that she was a bad mother. You would not have tried to kill her for that."

"What makes you think I tried to kill her?"

"Because why else would she have ran? It certainly couldn't have been because you put the subject of divorce on the table because that would benefit her even more. So of course you tried to kill her."

Lucius evaluated his child harder than he had earlier. The boy was right, dead on the money right. And yet he didn't want to admit these things to his child. He didn't want to hear the boy call his own mother a slut and admit that he knew things that Lucius thought he had kept well hidden. He sighed and took up his Brandy again.

"You're right I did try to kill her. And you're right those things are nothing new. But this latest affair was becoming to intense. The person she was cheating with was drawing her in to tightly and making her his own. She was taking my money and who knows what secrets she would have spilled before long. No she left me no choice."

This time I just nodded. It made sense. "But there's still more."

"Yes but you don't need to know the rest. You know that she betrayed me. That she put both of us, you and me, in danger over sex and that he stole from us. Be content with that for now and I will tell you the rest later."

"But…" Here I let my mind slip. I didn't want to know. I didn't want to have to ask these questions or let any of this swirl around my mind. "Are you still going to kill her?"

"Yes." It was that simple.

I sat there mulling it over. Waiting for him to say something else but he didn't break the silence. It was never him that gave in first because he had patience. "Is there anything else?"

"This thing with Pansy. What is going on."

I groaned and sat back. "That has gotten seriously worse. Blaise kind of added wood to the fire this afternoon by calling her a reputation whore and now I fear that she'd going to strike back against us. I don't know how, when, or where but I just feel it coming. Blaise thinks you'll be enough to deter her from the thought but I don't have as much faith. I mean he said it himself. She doesn't know when to stop."

I watched his head bob up and down and then his hand raise to take the last sip of brandy from his glass. "Right I'll take care of that. Let this be a lesson to all of you."

"I know. But you know that it's only been the last year that she's been like this. It's like she's under a spell." I could practically see the thought roll across his head.

"Now there's an idea. Have you had much success with using the imperious curse?"

I squinted at him. "Some…I haven't really tried it a whole lot. I don't exactly have the most subjects to practice on."

"I hate to say this but the girl was right earlier. You will need her. And if she refuses to make up with your group and elevate herself back to where she was before she can serve you under a spell. Keep practicing. The spell is likely to work better if you're around to keep it in place rather than my doing it and then being hundreds of miles away. Sev could do it but that drags up unwanted suspicions."

I nodded and breathed out the breath I'd been holding. That thought had occurred to me when I'd first been presented this challenge but it was not one that I really liked to entertain. Pansy had been our friend for four years and anyway you spun it that just didn't deserve to be rewarded by being made a slave, not for something this small. But she'd also brought this on herself.

I stood and gave my father a nod, walking towards the door. "Sleep well Draco." He called to me and I let the door swing shut behind me.

In my room I took a quick shower and threw on a pair of boxers, crawling into my bed beside Blaise who was wide awake. "So was it what you thought?"

"It was that and more. More that I don't get to know apparently. Go to sleep."

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><p><strong>Author's note:<strong> Not much to say this time. This chapter flowed and I love that. We're going to have a bit of a time skip coming up because I feel like I did give a pretty good definition of relationships in this chapter. I don't even know what my pairings are going to be for this story so don't jump to conclusions based on anything. Hope you enjoyed.


	4. Ch 04: Losing Things

Blame my girlfriend for my slowness. She's too distracting!

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><p>I rolled out of bed and stretched, not nearly as enthusiastically as I had yesterday, considering all that I no longer had to do on a daily basis. No more waking up to tutors and my nanny. No more perfect schedules. No more looking down on a city that was to active for how early it had to be up. A smile slipped across my lips and I rolled over, resolved to get along with the Younger Malfoy for the sake of his interesting father.<p>

I sat on the edge of my bed and concentrated, pulling at all my normal connections until the dark carpet phased into the blackness that normally clouded my vision. I blinked a couple times as I got use to the vibrant colors flooding my vision instead of the normal darkness. With even less enthusiasm then I had used to wake my muscles I stood and walked towards the terrace doors, sweeping aside the curtains. It was weird. I was in a foreign bed, in a foreign home, in a foreign land. Looking out the window and seeing trees and gardens and an entire estate was a long way from looking down on a street. I let the curtain fall back into place over the door window and let my sight fade to blackness, heading off to the shower.

As the water hit my skin I thought back to the conversation that we'd had before I'd crashed in his office the day before.

* * *

><p>I woke up to Blaise kicking my in the back. It was way too early and I was hung-over like mad. I reached over and grabbed his shoulder, flipping him over in the roughest manner I could manage before shoving my head under a pillow. The sunlight was giving me a pounding headache.<p>

"What was that for?" His voice was rough and gravely.

"You were kicking me in the back. I could have kept on sleeping if it weren't for you. Straight through this hangover. What time is it?"

I heard some shuffling and felt him kicking his way out from under the blankets. "Past noon. I was supposed to be home at two…ugh." He flopped back on the bed, sending ripples through it that made my stomach feel as though I were on a boat out to sea.

"Summon a fucking house elf and tell them to get us something for our hangovers."

He shoved a small vial under the pillow and I quickly picked it up, swallowing it in one go and trying not to gag as it raced down my throat. But the feeling passed and soon my headache and nausea fade to the back of my feelings. Slowly I pulled myself free of my hiding place and sat up, staring at him.

"When you leave wake Goyle and Crabbe, take them with you. I'm going to do…god only knows with this girl today. Why do you have to be home?"

"Mother wants to review my wardrobe for the ball. I can probably make it back when she goes to the meeting tonight. Think you'll need me?" He raised an eyebrow.

"I honestly don't know. But she does like you so yea, come back."

"Alright." He stood and walked into my bathroom, stripping as he went. "I'm stealing your shower."

* * *

><p><em>The further I got away from the room containing the mass of teen emotions the better I felt. The second we were out of the hallway I unclenched my fingers and hammered on Lucius' back. "I can walk you know."<em>

_"I simply don't want you to faint."_

_I puffed up. "Just because I had a moment of being overwhelmed by your kid's emotions doesn't mean I'm in any way, shape or form a weak child. I'm not going to faint."_

_"Let me change tactics then. Humor me by letting me carry you." The fight went on for a little bit longer before I gave in and laid my head on his shoulder._

_"I'm not doing this because I'm happy at being carried. I just see better this way."_

_"Can I ask you something? About your sight." He shifted me so that I was being held in one arm and opened a door. He sat me down on what felt like a couch and I fell back, laying on my side and closing my eyes._

_"Yea. Let me guess, you wonder how I knew my dad had nodded at me earlier?"_

_The sound of his footsteps receding away from me were muffled which meant his office was carpeted. Carpet and I didn't get along much at all. "Well that's a bit more specific than what I was going to ask. How do you see in general? Also your father mentioned you don't like to use your cane…why not?"_

_I laughed. "It isn't that I don't like to use my cane it's that I can't use my cane for what I want to use it for."_

"_Oh? And what do you want to use your cane for exactly?"_

"_Well walking and seeing obviously. But also beating people who get in my way or in general just fail to be polite about my blindness. Sometimes people can just be so rude about all of this."_

_He gave a snort and laughed . "Well that's not exactly polite for a young lady."_

"_If people are polite to me I am polite tothem in return. My mind says that you do not get something for nothing. But back to my sight. He told you about the whole…empathy thing so he really should have explained this. It's complex but in short I can see but just not all the time. I'm blind. If I was a muggle I would be purely blind. Plain and simple. But my eyes get a little help from my magic. There are…a number of ways in which I can view the world. All rather boring," I tried to resist the yawn that came over me and quickly covered my hand with my mouth but a little of it still slipped out. "Excuse me."_

_He simply nodded. "Maybe sometime you'll bore me with the explanation." His tone told me he would desperately like to know and wouldn't be bored at all. I rolled my eyes._

"_Yea sometime."_

"_I confess my office is rather boring if you aren't working. There are some interesting books on the walls and I could make them into brail with a simple spell…" He let his voice drop off._

"_No, thank you though. If you wouldn't mind I think I'd rather just ummm nap. I should go back to my room for that though." I sat up and made to more my legs off the couch but he raised a hand._

"_No. Just stay there, the couch is more than comfy and if you would like a bed there's a room attached to this one. I don't mean to make you uncomfortable or keep you awake but if you stay in here Draco and the rest will definitely leave you be. My office is a…sanctuary…at times." The chuckle he gave this time was much, much deeper, born of a dark humor._

_I laid back down and curled into a ball, laying my head on my hands and quickly beginning to slide off into the world of dreams. "Thanks."_

* * *

><p>I slipped from my room and wiped the silly smile that had been playing on my face off, I never held one for long. Extending my cane and letting my thoughts roll around in my head I walked down the hall, not really having any idea of which way you take or what I really wanted to do with myself. I was certainly paying attention to Draco yesterday when he had given me a tour but when my head finally decided to take stock of where I was I found I was completely and utterly lost.<p>

* * *

><p>I saw Blaise, Crabbe, and Goyle off as soon as we had all cleaned up, making plains with the latter to go shopping the next week a few days before the ball, just to make sure we had covered everything.<p>

My head rolled for a second as I watched them all dissapperate, my mind fighting the hangover potion with a passion. It wanted me punished. I swallowed back the bile that rose in my throat and walked to the kitchen, bypassing the servants and going straight to the master potion cupboard, downing two more hangover potions and then shaking myself. I grabbed a glass of water and headed back up the stairs, making straight for Illyria's room.

My hand pounded on her door four times in a polite knock before I called her name. No answer. Tried again, still no answer. _What exactly could she be doing in there all the time that she never hears a knock?_ I pushed against the door and invited myself right on in, going straight to her bedroom and knocking again. When I received no answer I gently eased the door open and was shocked. _Empty. Not good._

Running through each room I tried not to growl in frustration when I found her apartments were truly and completely devoid of a life sign.

Feet thumping the stairs I raced down the master staircase and into the kitchen, eyes honing in on the head chef I made my way across the room. "Have you seen the house guest? Illyria?"

He shook his head and the people nearest to us that had heard the question also shook theirs. I let a huff escape me and then ran into the dining room and out into the garden.

* * *

><p>I placed my hand on the wall and shivered as the cold cobblestones made my even colder. I couldn't remember when I had left the warmth of the house and ended up in this dank place but it was definitely underground. Every time I tapped my Cane on the floor the sound echoed and I knew I was in a chamber made of pure rock, a chamber most likely to be a dungeon.<p>

I tried to back track, turning myself completely around and heading back in the direction I had come but in true dungeon fashion this place was a maze.

* * *

><p>She wasn't in her room, the kitchen, the garden, or by the lake. I was currently in the Quidditch pitch and she definitely wasn't here. <em>Should I go back and check her room again? Or should I tell father…<em>I quickly rid myself of that thought. I wasn't going to be punished because she had decided to wander off. _She couldn't have gotten far. She's definitely not outside the house unless she's in the woods and that would take hours to search. But so would the house. Start with the most dangerous places, think, rule them out. _

My eyes widened and I made my way back into the house, heading down stairs, past the basement, past the sub chambers, to the dungeons.

* * *

><p>Despite the echo I taped my cane on the floor as I went and in time the sound became just background noise to me. I was listening now but not to myself, to a door that kept drawing me closer and closer. Below the sound of my tapping, barely audible I could hear a hissing. A voice calling out.<p>

_Little one…Come this way little one…Come to me._

_Not stupid. It probably wants to eat me so why am I walking towards it?_ Even as that thought slid through my head I kept walking towards the door. Leaning forward and putting my hand on the doorknob when I was merely an inch in front of it. "I'm not stupid. You're not a small snake, I can tell from the sound of your voice. Why should I come in?" I hissed back at it in Parseltounge.

_Why would I eat the first one to speak with me in ages? Come come I merely wish to speak with you._

Hand clenching the doorknob I opened my eyes. "Give me thy word that no harm shall come upon me in thy chamber."

_I give you my word of my own freewill, no harm shall come to you in my chamber from me or any outside force. Now enter._

The air took on a bit of a silvery sheen and I knew that the oath had been sworn. I stopped taping my cane and the air went silent around me. Hand going to turn the lock I jerked the door open, it stuck a little as if it hadn't been opened in forever and then It glided towards me. I let the thing continue to arc open on its own and suddenly new sounds invaded my senses. There was the pounding of running feet behind me and the slithering of a large body across a wet space in front of me. Paralyzed I didn't know whether to face the threat at my back or step forward to meet the snake.

Before the mental freeze could break I heard a spell being flung in my direction and instantly dropped to the floor, hand going to pull my wand for my cane as the door slammed shut with a loud bang. "Illyria!"

The sound of my name made me hesitate but only for a second, my wand was before me, pointed at my target as my mind slipped into attack mode. He raised his wand also. We stood stuck there for a minute until I slowly lowered my own wand and shook my head. "Sorry when spells fly at me I instantly go defensive."

"It's fine. It's more than understandable. I…I've been looking for you. Why are you down here?" I could tell her was looking over my shoulder as he came closer to me and I head the click of a lock, he was making sure that snake didn't get out on its own. _Why?_

"I was just walking around. I wasn't really paying attention and before I knew what was going on I was here. Well…a bit further away. Why did you…overreact so much?" MY wand was quickly slid back into my cane and I collapsed it, crossing my arms.

"That wasn't overreacting. I advise you stay far, far away from that room Illyria. It's…not….it's dangerous. Let's leave it at that." He took my arm and started to lead me away, I allowed it because as interested in meeting that snake as I was. I simply wasn't up for freezing to death.

"It promised not to hurt me. I was just going to go in and talk to it. It seemed so…lonely."

"A promise from a snake. That's hardly trustworthy. Just for your safety please stay out of this portion of the house. There. We…to be blunt occasionally there are prisoners down here and with you being blind I'm not sure how well versed in self defense you are. I made an extreame promise to oyur father and-."

I stopped our advancing out of the dungeon and turned on the balls of my stocking covered feet to stare at him, I didn't really see him so much as his aura as I glared him down but it was enough. The point was my eyes were open and as people had told me on a number of occasions they were enough to make a simple hello seem like a death threat.

"Draco dear let me make you understand this. I am not a baby. I can take care of myself. Barring this little stint with getting lost I am more than capable of keeping myself safe and that snake was not going to injure me. If you're looking for a princess to lay back and let you be the man I suggest you trot after that girl that was around yesterday."

I faced forward again. "That said I still need help getting out of here." I extended my cane and rested it on the floor, I didn't really want him to grab my arm again, and waited.

His response was to laugh and grab my arm again, holding on even as I tried to shake him off. "I won't comment on that. Let us simply retire to the upper floors and perhaps have lunch."

I covered the hiss that I let out with a shiver. "_Sorry. Perhaps some other time."_

_It's ok little one, but do come again._

* * *

><p>Lucius sat back and watched the meeting of death eaters progressing as usual, putting in his bit where he needed to and then sitting silently as the room cleared. When it was finally simply him, Severus, and the Dark Lord Lucius moved to the front of the room and waited for the first question to be asked.<p>

Voldemort looked up from where he had been helping Nagini slide from his lap to his shoulder and continued to pet the snake as he observed me. "So how has she settled Lucius?"

"Quite fine my Lord. She got unpacked and had a rather successful lunch with Draco and his friends yesterday."

The dark Lord's eyes bored into me. "That's but a portion of the day. What happened with the rest?"

"Ah. Well there was a bit of an incident with the Parkinson child but she, Illyria, ended up sleeping in my office and everything is quite fine."I kept my voice steady as his eyes began to glow, my mind couldn't help but stray to the fact that they both had such interesting eyes.

"The Parkinson girl…Your son has been having trouble with her for some time no?" I nodded. "Have you taken steps to fix it?"

"Yes my lord."

"Very good then. She should be allowed to know even less than your son's cohorts about my child." He stroked his chi and then went into his pocket and pulled out a key. "That's her Gringotts' key. Give it to her. I think…That's everything. Anything else?"

I shook my head. "No my lord."

He nodded and waved his hand to excuse us. "Very good. I shall be seeing you in a few weeks. "

Severus and I bowed and then left the room.

* * *

><p><strong>-x-<strong>

Today should be good for updating. I won't promise but you guys might see multiple parts since I'm doing a harry potter marathon.


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